Just Take the Fish
by Katerina Riley
Summary: Annabeth is a pirate. Well, she was until her crew committed mutiny and tied her to the mast of a sinking ship. All she can do now is wait for her death because the gorgeous god that appeared to her doesn't want to untie her, he wants her to eat a fish. Featuring: merman!Percy, pirate!Annabeth, and Percabeth.


**Based on: thisisthereasonfor . wordpress 2013 / 07 / 09 / fish – by – sarah – mensinga /**

**I told myself I'd never come back to this fandom, yet here I am...with another mer!Percy story in the making. I hope you all a appreciate this.**

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><p><em><strong>Just Take the Fish <strong>_

"Treacherous pirates," Annabeth muttered. "Mutiny. Against _me_. Why I oughta…"

The ex-pirate captain stopped. It didn't matter anymore. She's tied up to the mast of a sinking ship with no escape. Her mother told her not to trust those pirates. Her mother, _Athena_, the goddess of _wisdom_, told her not to trust those damned pirates. But did Annabeth listen? Oh no!

Sighing, Annabeth leaned against the mast, wondering how everything went so wrong. She'd be a pirate, and a rather good one too, for years! (Well, of course she'd been a good pirate – she's the daughter of Athena! She's good at everything!) She thought her crew had respected her. Feared her.

Apparently, they only respected and feared the one with the most gold. Typical pirate.

"Mother," she cried out. "If you can hear me, I'm sorry! Please help me!"

Drowning wasn't on Annabeth's To Do List. See the world, pillage and plunder, build everything she can possibly imagine… _That _was on her List. Being killed by her own damned crew was _not_.

All she'd wanted to do was make a name for herself. Annabeth should've known not to travel by sea, because of the whole Athena-Poseidon feud and all, but the only way for her to discover new places would be to travel across the only thing that connected discovered land to undiscovered land – the ocean. Besides, Annabeth lived on land for twenty years; it was time for a new adventure.

It wasn't supposed to end like this though. She'd hadn't even been captain for a whole decade! Annabeth was barely twenty-seven, she still had her whole demigod life ahead of her, and she was supposed to build the greatest shrine (to her mother, of course) of all time!

A demigod being defeated by mortal pirates. "Shame" doesn't even begin to describe how Annabeth felt.

The water was to her middle now.

"Hello," a voice said.

Annabeth looked up, completely startled.

"I have fish. Take it," the man in front of her said, offering a green, scaly creature. He looked like a god, and, being a demigod and all, Annabeth had met many gods and goddess, all of them asking her to do something for them. This god just wanted her to eat fish apparently. (There had to be a catch; there's _always_ a catch.)

Honestly, Annabeth tried not to stare at the man. She really did, but it was very difficult. Her eyes kept wondering all over his tan body. His abs… His toned arms… Annabeth forced herself to pry her grey eyes away from the man's body. At first, she looked into his eyes, but that was no better, seeing as how they sparkled and gleamed, like the ocean on a sunny day. Finally, Annabeth settled on staring between the man's eyes, right where the tips of his black, messy hair tickled his forehead.

"Uh, that's nice," Annabeth replied, trying not to gag from the smell. "I don't really need any fish, but, if you'll just untie me, I'll greatly appreciate it." She's going to be free! And the hot god-guy is going to be the one to do it! Annabeth grinned despite herself.

However, the god-guy shook his head and said, "You must eat the fish."

Annabeth's smile disintegrated completely. "_Eat_ the fish?" she repeated. "No, I do _not_ need to eat the fish." She felt like she was talking to a young child. "_You_ need to untie me."

The water was above her chest now.

The man laughed. It didn't sound cold or callous, but there was something about it that irked Annabeth. It was like he knew something she didn't. Being a child of Athena, that is not a good thing.

"No, no. Eat the fish," he said, nudging the smelly fish closer. "It'll help, I promise."

"Is your brain full of seaweed?" Annabeth asked incredulously. What kind of god was this guy? The god of stupidity? "Untie me!"

Something smacked the water. Annabeth stared dumbstruck where the splash occurred. It had been a tail. It had been _his _tail.

A child of Poseidon. Of course. It makes sense.

"You're right, Poseidon's my dad," the man said. "And my name is Percy. Now eat the fish!"

Annabeth shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "You're insane!"

"I'm trying to save you! Aren't you supposed to be _wise_?"

The water was now at Annabeth's chin, but the man's –no, merman's; wait, _Percy's_– words caused her to drop her jaw. _He knew_? He knew she was a child of Athena?

Then two things happened at once. First, the water finally slipped over her head then, the most disgusting taste filled her mouth. It was the damned fish! To make it worse, a hand covered her mouth, forcing her to chew the fish. Somehow, the fish was no longer whole; it was in bit-sized pieces.

"_Chew!" _someone commanded.

Annabeth figured it couldn't hurt.

She was wrong. It hurt. It really hurt. If she could've done it underwater, Annabeth would've been screaming with tears streaming down her face. It felt like it lasted for eternity, but it finally ceased. All was quiet.

"_You can open your eyes now."_

She didn't even realize that she'd closed them. Slowly, she opened them. Immediately, she saw Percy, his black hair floated around his face and there was the biggest, dopiest grin on his face. Annabeth would go to Tartarus before she admitted it was adorably hot.

Percy began undoing the ropes. _"Are you glad you ate the fish now?" _he asked…without opening his mouth.

_How in the hell do you think I feel glad after _that_? _Annabeth thought bitterly, glaring at the god-guy.

"_Look down," _Percy said, smiling his big, dopey, adorable smile again.

Annabeth blinked, _"I said that aloud?"_

"_Not exactly." _Percy scratched the back of his head. _"More like telepathic communication or…something like that. Just look down."_

So Annabeth looked down. She blinked, looked back up, blinked again, and looked back down at herself.

She had a tail. She had an honest-to-gods tail. It was a light blue, a few shades lighter than Percy's own blue, shimmering tail. Her scales shimmered as the sun shone through the waves, illuminating them as if they were diamonds.

"_You want to go on an adventure?" _he asked, smirking in that way that meant he knew exactly what her answer was going to be.

Annabeth grinned, sensing that this was _the _adventure, and if she passed it up, she might as well stop calling herself Athena's child.

"_Where to, Seaweed Brain?" _


End file.
